A gateway to discovering and tracking the descendants of the original New Netherland Brouwer progenitors, namely Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, Jan (or Johannes) Brouwer of Flatlands and Willem Brouwer of Beverwijck (Albany). As well as some diversions covering other Brewer and Brower families with origins in Colonial America

The portrait of Benjamin Brewer states that he was born 27 January 1796 in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, and names his parents as Henry and Jane Brewer, "the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Maryland." Benjamin Brewer was living in Galena, La Porte County, Indiana in 1880 (he died in 1885) and it is in all likelihood that he was the source for this information. So we search for this Henry Brewer.

The portrait further states that the family moved to Kentucky in 1799, resided there for four years, and then moved to Clarke (sic) County, Indiana, "where Mrs. Brewer died." It continues, "Mr. B. moved to Owen County, where he died."

Using the resources and databases at Ancestry.com, we find an entry in "U.S. and International Marriage Records," for Henry Brewer, birth year stated as 1775, married Jane (no surname given) in 1793 in Pennsylvania (township and/or county not given). It has to be emphasized that the "U.S. and International Marriage Records" database is NOT a collection of actual records*, but is a collection of names and events gathered from numerous compiled sources. This database is not acceptable evidence for a claim, but can be used as a clue for a continued search for more reliable records. In this case, if we make the assumption that this entry is for the parents of Benjamin Brewer of La Porte County, Indiana, then it is apparent that the year of Henry's birth is incorrect.

Henry Brewer is not found as a Head of Household on the 1790 census in Fayette County, Pennsylvania. If he had not yet married, as inferred from the above entry in the "U.S. and International Marriage Records" database, he would have more likely been living in the household of his father, and so his name would be absent from the census record. The portrait of Benjamin Brewer states that Henry Brewer moved to Kentucky in 1799 and lived there for four years before moving to Clark County, Indiana. Unfortunately, U.S. census records for Kentucky in the year 1800, do not exist. However, in 1807, we find Henry Brewer on a voter list in Clark County, Indiana (Ancestry.com, "Indiana, Compiled Census and Census Substitutes Index, 1790-1890"). This is our first verification of Henry Brewer.

There are no U.S. census records for the year 1810 in Indiana, which did not become a state until 1816. (The Indiana Territory had been created in 1804 out of the former, Northwest Territory which had been created in 1787. See IHB: Northwest Ordinance of 1787). In 1820, Henry Brewer is enumerated on the U.S. census at Charlestown, Clark County, Indiana, with a household of 1 male under 10, 1 male 10-15, 1 male 16-25, 1 male over 45, 2 females under 10, 1 female 16-25, 1 female over 45. In 1820, Benjamin Brewer is also found at Charlestown, Indiana, with a household of 1 male 16-25, 1 female under 10, and 1 female 16-25.

I have been unable to locate Henry Brewer in Indiana in 1830. Benjamin Brewer can be found in 1830 at Jeffersonville, Clark County, Indiana, with a household of 1 male under 5, 1 male 15-19, 1 male 30-40, 1 female under 5, 1 female 10-15, and 1 female 20-30.

In the portrait mentioned above it is stated that Henry Brewer's wife died in Clark County and Henry moved to Owen County. Henry Brewer can be found on the 1840 U.S. census at Clay, Owen County, Indiana, with a household of 2 males under 5, 2 males 5-9, 1 male 10-14, 1 male 80-89, 1 female under 5, 1 female 5-10, 2 females 15-19, 1 female 40-49. It has to be assumed that Henry, the head of household, is the male aged 80-89, which then places his birth as between 1750 and 1760 (this does not agree with the "U.S. and International Marriage Records" entry mentioned above, and is probably the more accurate of the two). Henry Brewer is not found after 1840 and he likely died prior to 1850, in Owen County as stated in the portrait of Benjamin Brewer.

A search of the 1850 U.S. census for the surname BREWER, in Clay, Owen County, Indiana, finds as a head of household, and Elizabeth Brewer, age 54, born in South Carolina. Perhaps she is a second, younger wife of Henry Brewer, and is the female age 40-49 in the 1840 U.S. census record. Elizabeth's household includes George W. Brewer, age 14, Rachel Brewer, age 12, and Samuel M. Brewer, age 10. Additional research among the probate and also the land records of Owen County is needed. For now this record serves as a clue for locating additional descendants of Henry Brewer. Also in Clay, Owen County, Indiana in 1850, as a head of household, is a William Brewer, age 20, with Anna E. Brewer, age 21, and Margaret Brewer, age 6 months. They are enumerated just prior to Elizabeth Brewer and her household.

Benjamin Brewer can be found in La Porte County, Indiana in 1840, and in Galena, La Porte Co., Indiana in 1850, 1860, 1870 and 1880. He died 6 April 1885 (there is a Find A Grave entry for Benjamin). As per the portrait in History of La Porte County, Indiana, Benjamin was married twice (Sarah Parke/Parks and Elizabeth Roney/Rooney?). Details on descendants have been worked out using the resources at Ancestry.com and Benjamin's page can be found here. Benjamin had seven children, but only one of them was a son, James Brewer (1830-1856). James Brewer, in his short life, did have three sons, at least one of whom, Benjamin Arthur Brewer (1855-1918) probably has direct male descendants living today. If so, Y-DNA testing of one such direct male descendant, through the Brewer DNA Project, would supply the genetic data needed to narrow down the possible ancestry of Benjamin Brewer and his father, Henry Brewer.

Henry Brewer's wife was named Jane (History of La Porte County, Indiana). A few user submitter Family Trees at Ancestry.com, discovered while conducting this search, claim that her name was Jane Hurdley, but none supply evidence for this claim and so we proceed from here with that surname followed by a question mark, Hurdley(?). A few Trees also place Henry as a son of Benjamin Brewer (1755-1834) and Catharine Mellinger, but this does not seem possible. Benjamin and Catharine were married in 1781, which is too late to have a son named Henry who in turn was married in 1793, only 12 years later. However, a link between Henry Brewer and Benjamin Brewer (1755-1834) does appear to exist. Henry's son, Benjamin Brewer (1796-1885) was married (second wife) to Elizabeth Roney (1804-1872). She is claimed to be a daughter of James Roney and Margaret Brewer (b.1780), who in turn is a daughter of Benjamin Brewer (1755-1834) and Catharine Mellinger. (This last claim should be confirmed by additional research).

It is conceivable that Henry Brewer and Benjamin Brewer (1755-1834) are brothers. This possibility would also fit with the belief that Henry Brewer was born between 1750 and 1760, rather than in 1775 as claimed in the "U.S. and International Marriage Records" entry. A web wide search using "Henry Brewer" and "Jane Hurdley" provided a few hits of interest. A Tree posted at RootsWeb's World Connect, titled "Hardin Clay Roots," places Henry Brewer and Benjamin Brewer (1755-1834) as sons of a Benjamin Brewer (b.1729) and his wife Mary. The post mentions a probate record for the older Benjamin Brewer (b.1729) in 1778 in Yohogania County, Virginia.** This probate record, or file, needs to be located.*** A 2005 post to the message board, Brewer Family Genealogy Forum at Genealogy.com, offers some clues to evidence stating that Elizabeth Roney was a daughter of James Roney and Margaret Brewer, and refers to "Uncle Henry Brewer," in the context of his relationship to Margaret Brewer (it is stated that Henry signed Margaret's marriage bond).****

We are left here with some interesting leads to pursue with the goal of finding the actual record evidence needed to piece together the puzzle of Henry Brewer. I would encourage and ask anyone who does pursue Henry Brewer and his family further to please supply us with whatever evidence and conclusions you find (use the Comments feature below or e-mail me directly). If there are male descendants of Henry Brewer, through either his son Benjamin Brewer (1796-1885) or some other, yet unknown son, out there, we would ask you to consider joining the Brewer DNA Project by taking a Y-DNA test. The results of which should help us narrow down the possible ancestors of this Henry Brewer.

*The name of this database (U.S. and International Marriage Records) is deceiving in that the entries are not
actual records. This is a problem with a number of databases created at
Ancestry.com, and is a warning that all that is found at that site is
not necessarily reliable or acceptable as evidence.

**Yohogania County, Virginia is a defunct county which existed from 1776 to roughly 1779. After boundary disputes with Pennsylvania were settled, portions of the former Yohogania were then within Westmoreland Co., Pennsylvania. Fayette Co., Pennsylvania was created in 1783 from portions of Westmoreland County.

***An e-mail sent to the submitter of the RootsWeb World Connect tree was replied to with the explanation that this was research from some years ago and the source of the probate record, and other claims, could not be recalled.

****In addition, here is a list of BREWERs found in Westmoreland and Fayette Counties, Pennsylvania between 1783 and 1840 (extracted from databases at Ancestry.com). Of note is a Mary Brewer who appears on the 1783 tax list at Huntingdon, Westmoreland Co. A woman would only be listed on a tax list if she were a widow. Perhaps this Mary Brewer, is the widow of Benjamin Brewer (b.1729) whose estate was probated in 1778 as per the un-sourced online World Connect tree mentioned.

In this indenture, which is in effect a mortgage, Elazerus Brewer is accepting a consideration of eighty-six pounds received from the Commissioners of the Loan Office, for a tract of land situate in Shrewsbury, that was conveyed to Elazerus by deed from James Williams dated 6 April 1772. The tract contains about one hundred acres and is bounded on the west by the Highway, on the north by Constant Hulit (Hulett), east by the brook, and south by other land of Elazerus Brewer. A repayment schedule is described in which Elazerus is to pay eight pounds, twelve shillings on the 25th of March of each year, for ten years, beginning in 1786.

This mortgage was taken out on the eve of the American Revolution, and at that time this Loan Office of Monmouth County would have been an entity of the British Crown. By the time 1786 rolled around, when Elazerus was to begin his repayment, the former American Colonies had won their independence, and the New Jersey Legislature was the governing entity in New Jersey. Was the Monmouth County Loan Office still in business? Was anyone there to accept or enforce collection of Elazerus' loan?

Details regarding Elazerus Brewer, sometimes referred to as Lazerus Brewer (or Brower) were covered in the December 18, 2013 post.

Friday, December 27, 2013

The Brewer Families of New England website has been updated. The website serves as a genealogical research database for information, records and data collected on the various BREWER families who originated in colonial New England (and some of their descendants).

New to this updated edition is the inclusion of the results of a Y-DNA upgrade from 37 markers to 67 markers for a descendant of John Brewer who lived at Cambridge and then Sudbury, Massachuetts during the mid 1600s. We now have two descendants of John Brewer who have been tested at the 67 marker level. The results can be seen and compared on the DNA Analysis Page at the Brewer Families of New England website, and at the Y-DNA Results page at the Brewer DNA Project website. The advantage of the Y-DNA Results page at the Brewer DNA Project site is that it does allow for comparison between the numerous unrelated BREWER families that have been identified.

A simple chart showing the ancestries of the two participants in the Brewer DNA Project can be found on the Brewer Families of New England site. The two descendants match on 66 of 67 markers and their common ancestor is John Brewer (1669-1709), a grandson of the progenitor, who is often referred to as Lieut. John Brewer. He lived at Sudbury and Weston, Massachusetts and his wife was Hannah Jones (b. 1672).

Family Tree DNA's relationship calculator predicts a 95% probability of a common ancestor within 8 generations for two participants who match on 66 of 67 markers and have the same surname. In this case, the common ancestor, John Brewer (1669-1709) is nine generations in the past for one of the participants and seven generations in the past for the other. The two descendants are 7th cousins, twice removed.

Having two descendants of this one New England progenitor, John Brewer of Cambridge and Sudbury, establishes a genetic identity for this BREWER family. Others who come along in the future, and are unsure of an ancestry back to John Brewer of Cambridge and Sudbury, perhaps because of incomplete or lost records at one generation in their direct ancestry, can now join the Brewer DNA Project and have a direct male descendant take a Y-DNA test. The ensuing test results will tell whether or not the participant is a member of this New England Brewer family.

Much Thanks to the two descendants who participated in the Brewer DNA Project. I have no doubt that their test results will be of value to some future researchers. Not only would we like to see more descendants of John Brewer of Cambridge and Sudbury join the Project, but we would also very much like to see descendants of the other New England Brewer families join and contribute as well.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Jeremiah John Brower (1815-1887), was originally covered in the post of January 29, 2012. He initially lived at Clinton, Cass County, Indiana, and in about 1853 relocated to Jackson Twp., Lucas County, Iowa. We know from previous Y-DNA test results of a direct male descendant that Jeremiah John Brower is a descendant of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, Long Island.

The descendant of Jeremiah John Brower was initially tested at the 37 marker level. Over the past couple of years we have been finding that this level of testing and lower (12 or 25 markers) is too limited when attempting to place the tested descendant within the large tree of the earliest known ancestor's descendants. The 37 marker level of testing is useful for pointing to who the earliest known ancestor is (or is likely to be), but it is less useful for pointing to just where to place the descendant among the other descendants. It gets us into the ballpark, but it can't show us to our seat. An upgrade to at least the 67 marker level can help us better define the numerous lines of descendants and can narrow down the possible lineages for those whose complete ancestry is still unknown.

In this case of Jeremiah John Brower, the descendant has upgraded from the 37 marker test to the 67 marker test. What the additional results first tell us is that much of what was previously suggested, in the post of January 29, 2012, still holds up. That is, the tested descendant, and therefore his direct ancestor, Jeremiah John Brower, is most likely, and I would say near certainly, a descendant of Adam Brouwer's son, Nicholas Brouwer. This placement was previously expected because the tested descendant had an allele value of 14 at maker number nine (DYS439), as did other known descendants of Nicholas Brouwer. (Tested descendants of other sons of Adam Brouwer have the value of 13 at this marker). Over the past year, and previous to the upgrade of this test, two other participants who are descended from Adam Brouwer, and who also have the value of 14 at marker nine, had taken the 67 marker test. The first, kit #285309, is a known descendant of Jeremiah Brower (Brewer) of Highgate, Vermont. The second, #293571, is a descendant of Mathew Brower of Greene Co., Pennsylvania. These two tests match on only 63 of 67 markers with each other, and so the question coming into this was, which kit would the descendant of Jeremiah John Brower more closely match at 67 markers.

The answer is, the descendant of Jeremiah John Brower matches the descendant of Jeremiah Brower of Highgate on 66 of 67 markers (a "one-step difference") and matches the descendant of Mathew Brower on only 62 of 67 markers (a "five-step difference"). As both of the descendants previously tested at 67 markers are descendants of Nicholas Brouwer (by reason of the appearance of value 14 at marker nine), we can now, with these additional test results, state with confidence that the descendant of Jeremiah John Brower is a closer cousin of the descendant of Jeremiah Brower of Highgate, the two share a common ancestor somewhere between the tested descendants and Nicholas Brouwer.

As was first stated in the post of January 29, 2012, was born in 1815, in New York (State). He is first seen in his marriage record dated 4 February 1849 at Cass County, Indiana. His wife was Sarah Jane Woods, and they are found on the 1850 U. S. census at Clinton, Cass County, Indiana. It is believed that Jeremiah John Brower, is a son of John Brower, who is found on the 1840 census in Cass County, Indiana, with a household of 1 male age 20-30 (Jeremiah John, assuming he is the son of John), 1 male age 70-80 (John, who then would have been born between 1760 and 1770), and 1 female age 20-30 (presumed to be a sister of Jeremiah John). What we take from this is that, if we accept the notion that John Brower was the father of Jeremiah John Brower, then he is the earliest known ancestor of the tested descendant, and was born in the decade of the 1760s.

Jeremiah Brower (Brewer) of Highgate, Vermont, is the earliest known ancestor of the descendant tested in kit #285309, which is a 66 of 67 match to Jeremiah John Brower's descendant. Jeremiah Brower of Highgate was born in 1738. His first known child, a son William, was born in 1766. The first thought is that it is possible that John Brower of Cass County, Indiana, is a son of Jeremiah Brower of Highgate. However, Jeremiah Brower of Highgate, did have a son named John George Brewer, born in 1792. It is not impossible that Jeremiah could have named two sons, John. Especially if the second John was born to a different mother and over 22 years after the first John was born. But, it is not common, and thus far we have not seen anything else that would tell us that Jeremiah Brower of Highgate had a son John who was born in the 1760s. I do not think it is likely that John Brower of Cass County, is a son of Jeremiah Brower of Highgate. However, we still have the fact that his tested descendant is closely related to a descendant of Jeremiah Brower of Highgate.

Jeremiah Brower of Highgate is likely a son of Jurge Brouwer and Elizabeth Holmes. This placement has not been, and likely cannot be proved. Reason for this belief is covered in an earlier post on Jeremiah Brower of Highgate. In his Loyalist Claim of 1786, Jeremiah Brower of Highgate names a Nicholas Brower of Newtown, as a witness. This Nicholas Brower has been one of the more allusive Browers of the mid 1700s. I do have a mention of a Nicholas Brewer and a Jeremiah Brewer on tax lists in the Half Moon District, Albany County, New York on 2 March 1779 and 29 October 1779, but have been unable to find the original source. In 1790, a Jeremiah Brewer is on the U. S. census at Half Moon, Albany Co. (1 male over 16, 1 male under 16, 3 females), and in 1800 a Jeremiah Brewer is at Stillwater, Saratoga Co. Neither of the last two are Jeremiah Brower of Highgate, but they could be sons of the Nicholas Brewer who he references in his Loyalist Claim. In 1800, 1820 and 1830, there is a John Brower at Petersburg, Rensselaer Co., New York. In 1830 he is aged 60-70, placing his birth at between 1760 and 1770. There is also one male aged 15-20 (so born between 1810 and 1815) in the household, along with two females age 20-30 and one age 60-70. In 1840, no man named John Brower is found at Petersburg, New York, but, John Brower, age 70-80 does make his first appearance in Cass County, Indiana. Newtown, Half Moon, Stillwater, and Petersburg are all within the same area of what was originally Albany County, which was since split into Saratoga and Rensselaer Counties. There is nothing conclusive in any of the above, however, I think that all of these records, taken as a whole, offer a possible answer to where Jeremiah John Brower fits into the larger picture of descendants of Adam Brouwer's son Nicholas Brouwer, and is consistent with the DNA test results that demonstrate that he is most closely related to descendants of Jeremiah Brower of Highgate.

Based upon what is known now, the best placement for Jeremiah John Brower (1815-1887) is that he is a son of John Brower (b. 1760-1770) of Cass County, Indiana, who may have previously been of Petersburg, New York (1800-1830). In turn, John Brower may be a son of Nicholas Brewer (Brower) of Newtown in 1786 (and Half Moon in 1779). Nicholas Brewer, may then be a brother of Jeremiah Brower (Brewer) of Highgate, Vermont. The common ancestor of the tested descendant of Jeremiah John Brower and of the descendant of Jeremiah Brower of Highgate (kit #285309) would be the presumed parents of Jeremiah Brower of Highgate, namely, Jurge Brouwer and Elizabeth Holmes.

The difficult part will of course be trying to prove the above with actual records and genealogical analysis and reasoning that meets present day standards. In fact, considering the scarcity of records form the mid to late 1700s in the area of Half Moon, New York, it might be impossible. But still, we can look, and hopefully that will be augmented by more descendants of Adam Brouwer signing up and taking Y-DNA tests with the Brewer DNA Project.

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Family Tree DNA's end of the year sale is almost over. Only ten days left. The sale ends on December 31st, 2013.

This sale is a terrific opportunity for those who have previously tested at just the 12, 25 or 37 marker levels, to upgrade to the 67 marker level. Doing so will add much more valuable data to the results we presently have. If everyone could upgrade to 67 markers, we may be able to do a better job of sorting out, separating and getting a better idea of all of the different lines of descent from the Earliest Known Ancestor.

In the past month, during this sale, we've already had one descendant of Adam Brouwer upgrade to 67 markers. The upgrade has given us a better handle on just where the participant's ancestral line should be among the descendants of Adam Brouwer. More on this in a future post. It would, however, be a great help if we could get other members who are descendants of Adam Brouwer, and especially those who are descendants of his son Nicholas Brouwer, to upgrade to the 67 marker level.

So, please consider an upgrade, and take advantage of Family Tree DNA's remaining ten days of sale prices. Upgrading can be done through your individual accounts, but if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to e-mail me.

Friday, December 20, 2013

Recent focus at this website has been on BREWERs found in western Pennsylvania, primarily in Westmoreland and Fayette Counties. Next to be mentioned is Jacob Brewer of Unity, Pennsylvania.

Jacob Brewer is found on the 1800 U. S. Federal census at Unity, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. He is over the age of 45 and has a household of 1 male under 5, 1 male over 45 (assumed to be Jacob), 1 female under 10, 2 females 10-15, and 1 female aged 26-44. To date, this census record, along with the baptism record of his son John, are the only records, we have of Jacob Brewer. Additional research should be conducted in the land records for Westmoreland County.

Jacob is not found in Unity on the 1810 census (a visual search of the pages for Unity in 1810, available at Ancestry.com, found no persons named BREWER). In 1820, a "Widow" Brewer is found on the U. S. census at Unity with a household of 1 male age 10-15, 1 male 16-18, 1 male 16-25, 2 females 16-25, and 1 female over 45.

I am assuming that the two census records belong to the same family and that Jacob was deceased prior to 1820. This assumption may, in the end, turn out to be incorrect, but for now it is an assumption that I prefer to stick with. Jacob Brewer's wife's name was Rebecca (baptism record of son John). If the 1820 census record belongs to her, then she would have been born between the years of 1756 and 1774.

Two members of the Brewer DNA Project claim a direct ancestry from Jacob Brewer. They are kit #s 32612 and 58286, and are grouped on the Y-DNA Results page under Jacob Brewer (color code Red). Brief pedigree information submitted by the two project members can be found on the Results page. Neither pedigree names Jacob's wife, and one pedigree is less sure about their earliest known ancestor's connection to Jacob. What is known is that the two members match on 12 of 12 markers, and therefore most likely have a common direct male ancestor who lived within the relatively recent past. While one member has been tested at 37 markers, the other has only been tested at 12 marker. Ideally, the 12 marker test should be upgraded to 37 markers. This upgrade would add more certainty as to what degree these two members are related.

The two earliest known ancestors (EKA) for each tested member are John Brewer (1793-1871) for #32612 (tested at 37 markers), and James Brewer (1806-1879) for #58286 (tested at 12 markers). Traditional genealogical research for the ancestries of each of the two tested descendants, back to their claimed EKAs, confirms the pedigrees submitted by each descendant. Research was conducted using Ancestry.com and a "Tree" with Jacob Brewer and Rebecca as the earliest ancestors can be found within the Tree titled, "Uplaced Brouwer Brower Brewer Bruer." (See Jacob Brewer).

The two tests results predict that those tested belong to haplogroup I2b1. Neither member matches any other person named BREWER in the project. Therefore, we know that Jacob Brewer (assuming that he is the correct ancestor for both) is most likely unrelated to any other BREWER family found in America prior to 1800, for whom descendants have taken a Y-DNA test.

Of the two EKAs, both believed to be sons of Jacob Brewer, John Brewer was the older of the two. John died on 6 March 1871, aged, according to his grave marker, 77 years, 4 months and 15 days. This gives him a calculated birth date of 19 October 1793. John Brewer was baptized on 6 April 1794 at St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church in Baltimore, Maryland. The baptism record gives his birth date as 17 October 1793, and states that his parents are Jacob and Rebecca Brewer. This is the source for Jacob Brewer's wife's name (it can be seen on Ancestry.com). John Brewer's wife was Jane Varner, and they lived their entire lives in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. They can be found in Salem Township on the U. S. census records in 1840, 1850, 1860 and 1870. In 1830, John is enumerated in Washington Township. Jane (Varner) Brewer died 14 June 1875, aged 79 years, 9 months, 14 days. Both John and Jane are buried in St. James Lutheran Church Cemetery in Perrysville, Westmoreland Co., Pennsylvania. They had nine children and the descendant who took the Y-DNA test is descended from their son, Christopher Brewer (1825-1901) who also lived his entire life in Westmoreland County.

James Brewer (James W. Brewer on his gravestone) is the EKA for the other Brewer DNA Project member. He was born in 1806 and died 20 December 1879 in Clay County, Indiana. He is buried in the Center Point Cemetery in Clay County. James Brewer's wife was Elizabeth Arnold, and she was 12 or 13 years his junior, having been born in 1818 according to her grave marker. She died in 1909. Her surname is taken from Family Trees found on Ancestry.com, and her descendants who created the pages have a large enough collection of photographs and other material for me not to doubt the assertion. James appears to have gotten a late start on family life. His twelve children are born between 1839 and 1863, when he was aged 33 to 57. His family can be found on the U. S. census records at Washington, Clay County, Indiana in 1850, 1860 and 1870. Elizabeth is enumerated as the head of the household there in 1880, and in 1900 she is in the household of her son, Andrew J. Brewer at Sugar Ridge, Clay Co., Indiana. In 1840, James Brewer was found at Sugar Creek, Tuscarawas County, Ohio. That this is the same James Brewer who appears at Washington, Indiana in 1850, is supported by the fact that his first four children were born in Ohio. His wife, Elizabeth, was also born in Ohio, so it appears that James ventured there, from Westmoreland Co., Pennsylvania, on his own, prior to being married. In 1830, a James Brewer is enumerated on the U. S. census at Unity, Westmoreland Co., Pa. The household has 1 male 5-10, 2 males 20-30, 1 female 10-14, 1 female 20-30, and 1 female 60-70. Assuming that this is our James Brewer, then he would account for one of the males aged 20-30, and his mother could be the female age 60-70 (meaning she was born between 1760 and 1770). Who the others are is impossible to say. Perhaps a married sister with her husband and two children? Here is another reason why the land records of Westmoreland County should be checked.
Of the twelve children of James Brewer, the youngest, Israel Brewer (1862-1951), is the ancestor of the descendant who is a member of the Brewer DNA Project. It is apparent that James Brewer had a lot of descendants. Although it appears likely that he is a brother of John Brewer, that assumption can be strengthened by the Y-DNA testing of additional male descendants using at least a 37 marker test. It should be emphasized that the placement of James Brewer as a son of Jacob Brewer, at this time, is not entirely certain.

Descendants of Jacob Brewer (again assuming that both John and James are his sons) are numerous. In addition to his son John and his assumed son, James, it appears that Jacob and Rebecca had at least two daughters who have not yet been identified. Many of Jacob's descendants were easy enough to trace using the databases and resources at Ancestry.com, and anyone living today who is a descendant of Jacob Brewer, should have no trouble finding their place in his family. What is very much unknown is Jacob Brewer's origins. His son John was baptized in Maryland in 1793. No man named Jacob Brewer (or variant of the name) has been located in Maryland in a search of the 1790 census. History of Indiana County, Pennsylvania (Newark, Ohio: J. A. Caldwell, 1880) at page 774, includes a brief biography of David Brewer (b. 1828), son of John Brewer and therefore, grandson of Jacob Brewer. The biography does not mention Jacob Brewer, but does state that David's father, John Brewer, "was a son of John (sic) Brewer, a native of England, and was an early settler of Derry Township." Perhaps Jacob Brewer was from England, and came first to the area of Baltimore, Maryland, just prior to the birth of his son, and then settled at Unity Township (which is adjacent to Derry Twp.) in Westmoreland Co., Pennsylvania, just prior to 1800.

The note was dated 24 February 1759, and presented at the Monmouth County Court of Common Pleas in 1769, which no doubt, was a follow up to William Brewer's appearance at that same court in 1768 (see the previous post of December 15, 2013).

In the original bond, Lazarus and William are described as "Lazarus Brower & William Brower sons of Adam Brower both of the town of Shrewsbury in the County of Monmouth & Province of East New Jersey." They are bonded to Samuel Wardell, of Shrewsbury, for the sum of sixty pounds.

William Brewer (Brower) was briefly profiled in the previous post. Lazarus Brower, more often referred to as Elazerus Brewer, was his younger brother, born either 23 June 1730 or 23 May 1731, depending on what source you wish to go with. William A. D. Eardeley in his 1923 manuscript, "Brower Genealogy and Langdon Genealogy," lists both dates which he says were obtained from a copied Bible record received from "a Lady in Freeport, Long Island." He notes the discrepancy in the dates in the record he was given, and on page 31 of his manuscript takes the opportunity to question the reliability of the record he was given. (The manuscript is online. It is a large file that must be downloaded). I get the impression that William A. D. Eardeley never saw the actual Bible record himself. In my own questioning of others who have also researched this family, I have yet to receive a positive reply from anyone when asked if they have actually seen this Bible record first hand. Apparently, the "Lady in Freeport," gave him two copies of the Bible record, but four five of the nine children, the birth dates are different in each of the two copies. Eardeley states that the variations in the two copies of the Bible records that he received are enough to make him reject both. The birth dates have since been repeated elsewhere. I choose to present the birth dates of the children of Adam Brewer with the phrase, "Said to be born" (followed by the date, or dates).

Elazerus Brewer, sometimes referred to as Lazerus Brewer or Brower (as in this note) was married to Frances Morris, a daughter of John Morris and Francyntie (Frances) White. Their New Jersey marriage license is dated 25 June 1755. They had seven children, the first said to be born 16 September 1754 (which pre-dates their marriage license), and the last 15 April 1766.

Elazerus is found in Monmouth County, New Jersey up to and through the years of the Revolutionary War. His son Aaron Robbins Brewer remained loyal to the British and removed to Ontario, Canada. Elazerus is said, by grandchildren in testimony to settle his estate, to have died in Ontario, Canada, on 31 March 1820.

In 2012, Lawrence Lippert, published in Monmouth Connection, volume 23, "The Paper Trail of Elazerus Brewer." It was featured in the May 19, 2013 post on this website.

Sunday, December 15, 2013

"The Goods and Chattels" of William Brewer is No. 28 as found in Abstracts of Early Monmouth County Court Papers, Part II. It is a handwritten document and according to notes found in the margins by the person who originally procured the copy, it is from the Monmouth County Archives, Court of Common Pleas, 1768. The file is a PDF and you will have to download the file so it can be rotated (and this will have to be done twice as the second page is upside down. Sorry, but sometimes the scanning software seems to have a mind of its own).

I have not taken the time to transcribe the entire document, but it can be seen on the fourth line down that this William Brewer was the son of Adam Brewer, of the town of Shrewsbury. He is specifically referred to as "William Brewer, otherwise called, William Brower," in the document. It appears that the issue being addressed here is a debt of sixty pounds owed by William Brewer to Samuel Wardell.

William Brewer, the son of Adam Brewer and Deborah Allen, was said to have been born 9 May 1722 at Shrewsbury. This date is from a Bible record that I have not personally seen, but was said to exist in the earlier part of the 20th century. (This record is, to my knowledge, first reported by William Applebie Daniel Eardeley in his manuscript, "Brower Genealogy 1615-1884 and Langdon Genealogy 1625-1876," written in 1923. It has since been repeated elsewhere). William's parents were Quakers and so no baptism records for their children are found, and this claimed Bible record is all we have for birth dates for Adam and Deborah's children for now. William's mother, Deborah Allen, was a descendant of George Allen who came to Weymouth, Massachusetts in 1635, and settled at Sandwich, Massachusetts. His grandson of the same name, George Allen, was born in 1672 at Sandwich, Massachusetts, and came to Shrewsbury, New Jersey as a young man. At Shrewsbury he married Elizabeth Hullett, and they are the parents of Deborah Allen.

William Brewer was married to Sarah Allen. She was a daughter of Jonathan Allen and Mary Corlies, and a descendant of Ralph Allen who died at Sandwich, Massachusetts in about 1659. Ralph Allen's son Jedediah Allen, relocated from Sandwich, Massachusetts to Shrewsbury, New Jersey, along with other Quakers, and he is the grandfather of William Brewer's wife, Sarah Allen. Proof of some family relationship between George Allen and Ralph Allen has not been discovered. The principal source for the Allen families of Shrewsbury is Charles Carroll Gardiner's, "George Allen of Sandwich, Massachusetts," (1941), which was published in his series, "Genealogical Dictionary of New Jersey," originally published in the Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, and later published in book form in, Genealogies of New Jersey Families, From the Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey (2 Vols.), (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1996). Robert Charles Anderson, Great Migration, Immigrants to New England, 1634-1635, Vol. 1, A-B, (Boston: New England Historic Genealogical Society, online at www.americanancestors.org, 1999), has a sketch of George Allen, and includes, in the "Comments," segment, a discussion of two men named Ralph Allen. Anyone interested in researching the Allen families of Shrewsbury is advised to begin with these two sources.

William J. Hoffman, in his "Brouwer Beginnings" manuscript notes, lists six children for William Brewer and Sarah Allen. These are sons, Adam Brewer (if he married, the name of his wife is not known), David Brewer (wife Ann Morris, see the previous post), John Brewer (wife Miriam Allen, who is a descendant of Ralph Allen), and a daughter, Mary Brewer (married James Pearce). I listed four, after mentioning that Hoffman had six, but the other two, a son Peter and a daughter Hannah, are less certain. It may be that they were confused for other Brewers of the same given names who also lived at Shrewsbury. I prefer not to include them unless further evidence is located (Hoffman did not list sources in his manuscript notes). A date of death for William Brewer has not been found, but he is mentioned in his father's will dated 22 August 1768.

Friday, December 13, 2013

Abstracts of Early Monmouth County Court Papers, Part II, No. 27, is from the Monmouth County Orphans Court Deed Book L, page 307. The matter was addressed at the November 1810 term. It is essentially a record of the sales of various parcels of land which previously belonged to David Brewer, who was since deceased.

The file needs to be rotated, and it is recommended that you download the file to do so. The handwriting is also a bit small and cramped and you will need to enlarge the image for a clearer read.

This David Brewer was born in 1758, a son of Willam Brewer and Sarah Allen, and a grandson of Adam Brewer and Deborah Allen. He is a great-great grandson of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, L. I. David was married to Ann Morris and had eight children who are primarily identified through his will (dated 16 August 1804), and records found in the cases before the Monmouth County Orphan's Court. David Brewer was deceased by 19 September 1804, when an inventory was taken of his estate.

Among those purchasing land is a Robert Brower, who bought 14 acres for twenty-one dollars. The only possible identification I can make for this Robert Brower is that he is David Brewer's son, Robert, who is mentioned in the will. The will specifically left land, only, to David's son Isaac. The other children mentioned were to divide the "remainder" of the estate. To date, I have found little else regarding Robert Brower (or Brewer).

Another purchaser of David's land was Annamiah Gifford, who was born about 1786, and was married to David's daughter, Elizabeth Brewer.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

The second batch of papers from the court records at Monmouth County, New Jersey, collected by William B. Bogardus, are attributed to descendants of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, Long Island. Abstracts of the papers was placed online on December 11, 2011 and you are referred to the post from that date for an overview. The documents in this part are numbered 26 through 50, and here is a quick link to the abstracts. An effort will be made to get the complete documents online over the course of the next couple of months.

Document no. 26 is an indenture dated 25 September 1815, between Charles Parker, Esq., High Sheriff of Monmouth County, and Adam Brewer, of Howell Township, Monmouth County.

The wording in the indenture is tedious, and the handwriting is small. I have not taken time to attempt a complete transcription. It is here for anyone who wishes to. The "goods and chattels of William Tilton and Thomas Tilton," are mentioned, as are sums of money, including a seven thousand dollar debt (which is a large sum for that time). Another name that appears in the document looks to be that of a Benjamin Colifs.

This Adam Brewer is most certainly a descendant of Adam Brewer (1696-1768/9) who was the original settler in Monmouth County. He would most likely be the Adam Brewer, born about 1752, son of William Brewer and Sarah Allen. This Adam Brewer's land was mentioned in the 26 February 1811 will of Thomas Tilton, of Howell Twp. In August of 1815, he was sued by Jacob Croxon over a bound of fifteen hundred dollars. A marriage for, or descendants of, this Adam Brewer have not yet been discovered.

The article is of interest to those of us who have taken part in the National Geographic's GENO 2.0 Project, and are curious as to just why we were shown to have a relatively higher level of Denisoven DNA when compared to Neanderthal DNA, despite the fact that our known genealogical history is strictly European. Previously, Denisoven DNA was only known from an example dating back 80,000 years and found in Siberia. But now, Denisoven DNA has been identified as early as 400,000 years, and was taken from a sample found in Spain.

Monday, December 2, 2013

Back in the spring of this year I had placed online some PDFs of the Records of the Harlingen Reformed Dutch Church (Montgomery Twp., Somerset Co., New Jersey) that were published in the Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, volumes 17 (from page 80 on), 18, 19 and 20. In addition, there was a post dedicated to the "Earliest Baptismal Records of the Church of Harlingen," which appeared in the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, volume 40. I would normally suggest using the "Search this Blog" feature at the right to find the original posts, however, it is presently not working. This is a Google Blogger problem that seems to occur every so often (it has been unavailable for better then a week, and it effects all blogs created with Google's Blogger). In the meantime (until it is fixed), if you do a general Google search (at their main page) using the search terms, "Reformed Dutch Church of Harlingen, Brouwer Genealogy," (without the quotes) you should get the posts from this past spring right at the top of the search list.

The purpose of this post, is to add three more PDFs to what is already online. The Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey had begun publication of the Harlingen Reformed Dutch Church records with volume 15 (1940). Below are links for the records as published in volumes 15, 16 and 17 (to page 64).

The introduction in volume 15, at page 2, mentions the "Earliest Records" that were published in the New York Genealogical and Biographical Record, volume 40 (1909), and describes them as "inaccurate and generally unsatisfactory," and what appeared in the NYGBR is reprinted in the GMNJ, volume 15, "corrected, of course."

I only took the time to compare one record between the two versions. It was the only record that pertained to a BROUWER in the NYGBR version. At page 284 of NYGBR, vol. 40, is the baptism record, dated Oct. 15, 1727, of "Sarah, dau. Henry Brewis & Rachel Bunn.; wits.: Rachel Crom & Margaret Crom." The corresponding record, as it appears in the GMNJ, vol. 15, page 61, gives the child's name as "Sara," the parents as "Hendrik Brouwer, Rachel Bon," and the witnesses as "Willem Krom, Margriet Krom."

Monday, November 25, 2013

This post continues the post of November 16, 2013, "Some Unplaced Brewers of Western Pennsylvania and Kentucky." Examined here are four BREWERs, in two groups. They are John Brewer and Samuel Brewer of Perry, Fayette County, Pennsylvania, sons of a Richard Brewer; and David Brewer, son of a Dirck Brewer, and Elias Brewer, of Menallen and Redstone, Fayette County, Pennsylvania. David and Elias are suspected to be brothers, and both moved westward from Fayette County in the very early 1800s. As of now, there is no evidence that supports the possibility that all four (John, Samuel, David and Elias) are brothers. Currently they must be treated as separate families. Information found on the current edition of the Brouwer Genealogy Database regarding the above mentioned is partially incorrect and will be changed with the next update. The links provided for each of the four will take you to a page at Ancestry.com where additional descendants have been researched.

- John Brewer was born 25 March 1761 (location not certain) and died 6 June 1848 at Perry Twp., Fayette County, Pennsylvania. He served during the Revolutionary War, in the place of his father, Richard Brewer, while living at Winchester, Frederick Co., Virginia. He had a younger brother named Samuel Brewer. His wife was Mary Martin and they were married on 22 Nov 1790 at Winchester, Virginia. John and Mary had six children, four daughters named Martha, Elizabeth, Mary and Sarah, and two sons, Richard and John. We know all of this from the Revolutionary War pension file of John Brewer, which also includes the petition of his widow, Mary, who died in July 1860. The file for John Brewer's Revolutionary War pension application can be found at Heritage Quest online. However, the file that is available there is incomplete. Ancestry.com has the complete file, which includes an additional 60 pages over and above what is available at Heritage Quest. The additional 60 pages are referred to as "unselected pages," and it is within these pages that we discover John's brother Samuel, and the names of his children, including his daughter's husbands.
The current addition of the Brouwer Genealogy Database places John Brewer as a possible son of Dirck Brouwer (bapt. 15 Aug 1732) and as a brother of Elias Brewer (b. 1755) and David Brewer (b. 1762). I believe it is prudent to change this. John Brewer, and his brother Samuel Brewer, are sons of a man named Richard Brewer. However, this Richard Brewer may not be the same as Dirck Brouwer, who is possibly the father of Elias Brewer and David Brewer. Evidence that John Brewer is a brother to Elias and David, has not been found. John and Samuel Brewer remained in Fayette County, Pennsylvania, while David and Elias left for West Virginia and Ohio, and finally Indiana. The given names David and Elias are not found in John's family or among his immediate descendants.
I have begun tracing descendants of John Brewer through the use of Ancestry.com. Thus far it can be stated that John's son, John Brewer (wife, Elizabeth) had descendants, and there may be a few direct male descendants living today. His son Richard is less certain. Although named in the pension file (John's original application was from 1831, while his wife's requests date from 1849), no other record has been located for him. He does not appear as a head of household in any census in Fayette County from 1810 through 1850. It is possible, however, that Richard and his own family was enumerated in the household headed by his father. For example, the 1840 census (Perry Twp.), in which John Brewer is head of household, includes a male aged 60-70, who would be John (with his age understated by ten years) but also includes a male age 40-50, a female 30-40 (in addition to a female 60-70) and numerous children below age 20 who can not be children of John. The 1850 census includes a Mary Brewer, age 42 (so born about 1808) with five children (John, Richard, Mary, Sarah, and Aaron) born between 1828 and 1845. This Brewer family (which is not headed by a male) is enumerated in the household of Isaac and Sarah (Brewer) Gary. Sarah (Brewer) Gary, was Richard's sister. I suspect that this family belongs to Richard, but have been unable to locate them with certainty after 1850.
In John Brewer's Revolutionary War pension file, is a letter from a Mrs. M. N. Amsburgh of Newark, Licking Co., Ohio, dated October 30, 1876. She is inquiring into land that she believes was granted to John Brewer, and states that her mother (name not given) was John Brewer's daughter. She calls her grandfather, "John Andrew Brewer," and suggests that when looking for him, his name might be "in German."
The fact that John Brewer's father's name was Richard, could imply that he is descended from Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, and that was assumed with the earlier placement of John as a brother of Elias and David Brewer. That may still be the case. But, he may be only be a cousin to Elias and David, and not necessarily a brother. And still, John (and his father, Richard) may not be descended from Jan Brouwer at all. Hopefully a descendant can be found who will be interested in taking a Y-DNA test. That may well be the last hope available for correctly discovering the ancestry of John Brewer.

- Samuel Brewer, is a brother of the above, John Brewer. Samuel died in October 1849 at Perry, Fayette Co., Pennsylvania, age stated as 76, therefore he was born about 1773, and would be about 12 years younger then his brother. Samuel can be found on the U. S. census in Fayette County in 1810, 1820 and 1830 at Washington Twp., and in 1840 at Perry Twp. His death is recorded on the U. S. Census Mortality Schedule for 1850. Samuel was deposed in May 1849 for Mary Brewer's request for a widow's pension. Although he does not state that he was John's brother, is is called such by others in other documents in the file. Samuel signed his deposition with a mark (X). Samuel Brewer's wife was named Nancy Murphy and nine children have been found including five sons named, Jacob, Henry, Richard, John, and Samuel. A tenth child, who would be an eldest son named Aaron (b. 15 May 1797), is also claimed to be son of Samuel Brewer. Thus far, descendants have been found for the sons, Jacob, Henry and Richard, and it is hopeful that a living direct male descendant can be found and will be interested in Y-DNA testing. An unconfirmed source has stated that Samuel was "possibly" born in Lancaster Co., Pennsylvania.

- David Brewer, was born in 1762 in New Jersey, and died by 4 August 1853 in Jennings Co., Indiana. The year and location of his birth is taken from the 1850 U. S. census taken at Geneva, Jennings Co., Indiana. Prior to living at Geneva, David had been at Tyler County, Virginia (now in West Virginia), and previous to that at Menallen and Redstone, Fayette Co., Pennsylvania. A direct descendant of David Brewer has taken a Y-DNA test with the Brewer DNA Project, and the results demonstrate that the descendant, and therefore David Brewer, are descended from Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, Long Island (see #163954). David Brewer's ancestry back to Jan Brouwer, however, has not been proved by traditional genealogical research. He has been placed tentatively as a son of Dirck Brouwer, baptized in 1732, a son of Elias Brouwer and Helena Willemse. This tentative placement is based upon the fact that David's grandson, Jacob Jennings Warner Brewer (1815-1905) left a memoir in which he states that his great-grandfather (who would be David's father) was named Derrick Brewer, and he was of "Holland descent." Coupling this with the knowledge that Elias Brouwer and Helena Willemse, in addition to naming a son Dirck, also named a son, David, leaves us with the opinion that the best placement for David Brewer is as a grandson of Elias Brouwer and Helena Willemse.
David Brewer's wife was Euphema Warner, and they were members of the Big Redstone Baptist Church in Franklin, Fayette Co., Pennsylvania, in 1791. David Brewer is found on the 1800 census at Menallen, Fayette Co., Pennsylvania, and in 1810 he is at Elizabeth, Ohio Co., Virginia. David Brewer and his wife are believed to have had eight children, and named his sons, Benjamin, Samuel, Jacob and Elias. Research on David Brewer's descendants was first conducted a number of years ago by Nita Pugh and Marie Fawcett. They had given me their research and I have tried to confirm and possibly expand upon it. Their work was conducted prior to the days when many records from varied locations like western Pennsylvania, Virginia/West Virginia, Ohio and Indiana were easy to locate in one place, and online, as they are today. Some descendants can be found on the Brouwer Genealogy Database website, and I've begun using the resources at Ancestry.com to update and locate additional descendants. The current edition of the BGD, includes John Brewer and Samuel Brewer (above) as possible brothers of David Brewer. Although John and Samuel Brewer's father was named Richard (the English equivalent of Dirck), I believe it is prudent to separate John and Samuel from David, until more evidence (including Y-DNA evidence) can be found to confirm a relationship between the three. The next updated BGD will separate John and Samuel, from David.

- Elias Brewer, died in October 1842 at Washington Co., Indiana, age 87, which places his birth at about 1755. Elias is found at Menallen, Fayette Co., Pennsylvania in 1790 with a household of one male over the age of 16 and one female. He had married Mary Cadwalder on 29 September 1790 at the Westland Monthly Meeting in Fayette County. Elias and Mary were Quakers. In 1800 Elias was at Redstone in Fayette Co., and in 1805 was granted land in Steubenville, Ohio. Elias Brewer's movements have been traced through Quaker Monthly Meeting records and U. S. census records. He was in Harrison Co., and Tuscawaras Co., Ohio, before reaching Vernon Twp. in Washington Co., Indiana. As with David Brewer (above) initial research on Elias Brewer was conducted by Nita Pugh and Marie Fawcett. Additional and confirmatory research continues at Ancestry.com. Elias Brewer is tentatively placed as a brother of David Brewer (above). The basis, is simply based on the fact that they both appear on the 1800 census at Menallen, Pennsylvania (the census is, unfortunately, recorded alphabetically, rather than in order of household visited). Unlike David Brewer, we have not yet heard from a direct male descendant who would like to take a Y-DNA test. Such a person could help to determine whether or not this tentative placement is correct. Elias, is however, named ELIAS, and that fact in itself gives a high probability that he is a descendant of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L. I. Elias had eight children, but only two sons, named Richard and John. The naming of a son, Richard, gives us the possibility that Elias' own father was named Richard, which is the English equivalent of Dirck. Elias' son John Brewer (or John Cadwalder Brewer) was also a Quaker and was apparently married three times. John had at least three sons, but one died at age three. Perhaps descendants can be found from one of the other two, whose names were Morris W. Brewer and Jason W. Brewer. Elias' son Richard Brewer died in 1877 in Washington Co., Indiana. He apparently had three sons, Edmund Brewer, Elisha Brewer and Walter Brewer, and perhaps a living male descendant can be found among their descendants.

Any direct male descendants of any of the BREWERs described above, who is interested in confirming their BREWER ancestry through a Y-DNA test, can contact us through the Brewer DNA Project.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Family Tree DNA is currently running sales on many of their DNA tests, and on upgrades for those who have already joined. The sale prices are good until December 31, 2013.

As of this writing we have twenty-six members of the Brewer DNA Project who belong to the Adam Brouwer sub-group within the project. That is, each of the twenty-six either can confirm, with traditional genealogical research, their direct ancestry back to Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, Long Island, or, if they cannot demonstrate their complete direct ancestry, are close genetic matches to those who can, to the degree that it is certain that they too, descend from Adam Brouwer. Of the twenty-six, only seven have been tested to the 67 marker level with their Y-DNA test. The other nineteen have been tested at the 37 marker level or lower. We would like very much to have more of the Adam Brouwer sub-group members test up to at least the 67 marker level. We believe that having more data, from as many individuals as possible, will help us narrow down the possible ancestral lines for those who have not yet been able to complete their direct ancestry back to Adam Brouwer.

The same can be stated for the Jan Brouwer of Flatlands, L. I. sub-group. Here we also have twenty-six participants who are descendants, plus two others from Europe who are apparently related to the Jan Brouwer descendants but in a generation that pre-dates Jan Brouwer himself. Of the twenty-six descendants, thirteen have already tested at 67 markers.

Additionally, we are still looking for our first direct descendant of Willem Brouwer of Beverwijck, and one for Hubert Brower, immigrant to Philadelphia, to join the project.

The regular price for an upgrade from the 37 marker level to 67 markers is $99. Currently, Family Tree DNA is offering the upgrade for $79. This is good until December 31, 2013. This presents an opportunity for us to get more current members up to speed with the others who are already at 67 markers. It is also a terrific opportunity for new members to join. The Y-DNA 67 marker test for new members, regularly priced at $268, is now on sale, until December 31, 2013, for $189. We would especially like to see more direct descendants of Adam Brouwer and Jan Brouwer, who already can confirm their direct ancestry to either Adam or Jan, join the project. The more confirmed lineages that we have, the better chance we will have of finding the missing links for those who can not yet prove their direct ancestry.

For existing members to order an upgrade, first log into your personal account at Family Tree DNA. Click on the "Order an Upgrade" button in the top right hand corner. Next, select "Order a Standard Test." From the drop-down menu next to "Products," select "Y-refine37to67." The sales price of $79 will automatically appear in the field.

We hope to see some upgrades, and we hope to see more new members. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact either myself or Richard Brewer, through the e-mail links at the Brewer DNA Project's main page. Thank you.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

The purpose of this post is simply to steer anyone and everyone interested in the genetic genealogy aspect of Brouwer, Brower and Brewer family research to our News page at the Brewer DNA Project site.

The News features the announcement by Family Tree DNA of a new DNA test named "Big Y." There are a couple of links provided that I strongly recommend for those who wish to learn more.

In addition we have the announcement of the addition of a new Co-Administrator for the Brewer DNA Project. Terry White, whose primary area of interest is with researching the "Lanier-Brewer" sub-group. The "Lanier-Brewer" sub-group has the largest number of members among those who have joined the Brewer DNA Project and having someone on board who has a great deal of experience with this family is long overdue. Just as a reminder, the post from November 16, 2011 features some links that will be of interest to those who find themselves in this sub-group.

In the indenture, both parties, John Johnston and Elias Brewer, are "of Freehold." John Johnston is referred to as "John Johnston, Junr." The image does appear to be of the original indenture, and not a much later copy or transcription of the original. It is somewhat difficult to read, and I have not attempted a full transcription myself. The property is in Freehold, New Jersey, and the indenture describes its boundaries. Much of the rest of the document consists of the requisite "legalize" of the time period. It was recorded on 5 March 1727.

Elias Brouwer/Brewer was married to Helena Willemse. Beginning in 1732, and ending in 1744, they had five children baptized at either Harlingen in Somerset County, or Readington in Hunterdon County.

This post concludes the descriptions and images of the files that were abstracted in Abstracts of Early Monmouth County Court Papers, Part I.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Item no. 24 from Abstracts of Early Monmouth County Court Papers (Part I), is from the Monmouth County Orphans Court, Book F, and took place during the April 1825 term. It is the application of Joseph Brewer for an order to sell real estate that was inventoried in the preceding January term.

The property that Joseph wishes to sell was six acres in Howell Township, adjoining the Methodist Meeting House. From the description of the real estate being sold, the Joseph Brewer and Peter Brewer in this document are most likely the Joseph, baptized 19 April 1778 at Freehold-Middletown, son of Hendrick Brower and Abigeltje Hunt, and this Joseph's brother, Petrus, baptized 19 March 1770, also at Freehold-Middletown.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

There are a number of unplaced Brewer families found in Western Pennsylvania and Kentucky, specifically in Hardin County and Larue County, Kentucky, who are best presented as a group. Descendants of two of these Brewer family's earliest known ancestors are confirmed, through Y-DNA testing, to be descendants of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, Long Island. The testing was done through the Brewer DNA Project.

The Brewers featured in this post lived during the later half of the 1700s and the first half of the 1800s. They were among the earlier settlers of what was then the western frontier of colonial America and the early United States. This large location, which would encompass western Virginia, including the area that would become West Virginia; southwestern Pennsylvania, especially the counties of Westmoreland, Fayette, Green and Washington; the panhandle of Maryland (Garret, Allegany and Washington Counties); what is now Kentucky, originally a western county of Virginia, and granted separate statehood in 1792; and the surrounding Ohio Valley region which includes the present states of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois. The earliest settlers to this area began to arrive, in small numbers, in the years just prior to the American Revolutionary War. Settlements and the arrival of more families increased tremendously in the years after the Revolution. New settlers came, not only from the northeast states of New York and New Jersey, but also from Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and the Carolinas. This created something of a mixing pot, and many unrelated families named BREWER are found a wide range of origins. The fact that these numerous, and unrelated families, all named BREWER are found in the same counties and even townships, creates a terrific challenge when it comes to trying to sort them all out. Throw into this problem the additional fact that records, especially vital records, from the period of 1790 to 1850 are sparse and often non-existent, and this terrific challenge becomes even more difficult.

There are a handful of BREWER families that we are interested in, and after doing some recent new research, I believe the best way to present them at this time is as a group, with brief descriptions of each family. Recently, Ancestry.com and Family Search, have been introducing new collections of records online. Many of these records were not easy to access just a few years ago. But with this new wave of records and data, I've begun to revisit this group of BREWER families with the hope of gaining some new insight and to find and correct any errors or misplaced family members. The link for each head of a family, below, will take you to their page I created at Ancestry.com under the title of "Unplaced Brouwer Brower Brewer Bruer." Descendants of those featured below can be followed there. Some, but not all, of the descendants on the Ancestry.com site can be found in the Brouwer Genealogy Database. Some will be added with the next update, but others will not be added (it's just too time consuming). This recent research has convinced me that there are errors in what is found in the current edition of the BGD and they will be corrected with the next update. So for now, when a discrepancy is noticed, the rule is, what is found on Ancestry.com in "Unplaced Brouwer Brower Brewer Bruer," trumps what is found on the BGD.

- Henry Brewer / Henrich Bruer (or Brauer) is found at Donegal in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in 1810 (U.S. Census). The first siting is of "Hary Brewer," on the 1783 tax list at North Huntingdon, Westmoreland Co., Pennsylvania. His year of birth is believed to be 1763, although this has not been confirmed, and he may have been born a bit earlier. The location of his birth may be Pennsylvania or New Jersey. A direct descendant has participated in the Brewer DNA Project and it is clear from the results of the descendant's Y-DNA test, that Henry Brewer is a descendant of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, Long Island. Henry Brewer's parents and his ancestry back to Adam Brouwer is still unknown. Since he is first found in western Pennsylvania, I suspect that his immediate family was from New Jersey and probably from the area of Hunterdon, Somerset and Sussex Counties. Presently, a "best guess" for an ancestor would be Hendrick Brouwer, baptized in 1699, a son of Adam Brouwer and Marritje Hendricks. If born in 1763, Henry Brewer would likely be a grandson of Hendrick Brouwer (who is found in Somerset Co., New Jersey as an adult). If correct, this would make Henry Brewer a great-great grandson of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, L. I. Henry Brewer is represented by #32813 at the Brewer DNA Project. Results an also been seen at the DNA Analysis page at the BGD website.

- Peter Brewer was probably born during the decade of 1750 to 1760, and possibly in, or near, Sussex County, New Jersey. He is found on a tax assessment at Huntingdon, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania in 1783, but soon went to Hardin County, Kentucky where he is found in 1810. A descendant has participated in the Brewer DNA Project and the Y-DNA test demonstrates that Peter Brewer is, like Henry Brewer above, a descendant of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, L. I. He is represented by #28193 at the Brewer DNA Project. The results are also found on the DNA Analysis page at the BGD. The descendant of Peter Brewer, and the descendant of Henry Brewer, match on 36 of 37 markers. The one-step difference occurs in marker no. 5 (allele 385a) of Peter's descendant, and this mutation is unique to Peter's line of descendants. No other tested descendant of Adam Brouwer has this mutation. The comparison of Y-DNA test results, coupled with the fact that both are found in Westmoreland Co., Pennsylvania at about the same time, implies that Peter Brewer and Henry Brewer are closely related. They may be brothers, or perhaps first cousins. Peter Brewer died in Hardin County, Kentucky in late 1840 or early 1841. He left a will dated 2 November 1840, proved 19 April 1841, in which he names his wife Margaret, and children, Samuel Brewer, Valentine Brewer, Elizabeth Howell, Michael Brewer, Benjamin Brewer and John Brewer. A PDF of the will can be accessed at the Ancestry.com page created for Peter Brewer (Media Gallery). Peter Brewer's wife was Margaret Hobach (Hoback).

- Samuel Brewer was born about 1757 in Sussex County, New Jersey and is a brother of the above Peter Brewer. His age, place of birth, and the fact that Peter Brewer is his brother, come from Samuel's application for a pension for service during the Revolutionary War. The file of Samuel's pension application is available online at Heritage Quest, however, the pages available there do not constitute the entire file. The affidavit of Peter Brewer of Hardin Co., which demonstrates that he and Samuel are brothers, is missing from the Heritage Quest collection. It is, however, now available on Ancestry.com, which has complete files for pension applicants. Both can be accessed at the Media Gallery on the Ancestry.com page created for Samuel Brewer. Samuel Brewer is found in Westmoreland Co., Pennsylvania on tax lists in 1783. By 1787 he was in Mercer County, Kentucky, at or near Harrodsburg, which is a location at which other descendants of Adam Brouwer are found. These other BREWER families of Mercer Co., were children of Daniel Brouwer/Brewer and Marietje Koning who were at Bergen Co., New Jersey and then Conewago, Pennsylvania, before coming to the Harrodsburg area with a large emigration of "Low Dutch" families from Conewago. Although they ended up in the same location at the same time, Samuel, came by a different route, and is probably at best, a distant cousin of the other Harrodsburg, Kentucky BREWER families. Samuel Brewer's wife was Rebecca Smith, they were married in Mercer Co. in 1787, and there is one confirmed son (William Brewer) and possibly a daughter named Jerusha.

- Benjamin Brewer was, as per his Revolutionary War pension application, born 24 April 1755. He served while living in Fayette Co., Pennsylvania. He died 6 May 1834 in Washington Co., Indiana. His wife was Catharine Mellinger, and they had nine children. The current edition of the Brouwer Genealogy Database places Benjamin as a possible son of Dirck Brouwer (bapt. 15 Aug 1732, son of Elias Brouwer and Helena Willemse, and a great-grandson of Jan Brouwer of Flatlands). Recent research as now prompted me to change my opinion regarding this placement. I do not believe Benjamin Brewer is a descendant of Jan Brouwer, and therefore cannot be a son of Dirck Brouwer. It is more likely that Benjamin is a brother of Peter Brewer and Samuel Brewer mentioned above (and therefore a descendant of Adam Brouwer of Gowanus, L. I.). Benjamin and Samuel both are found on tax lists in 1783 at Tyrone, and Springhill, in Westmoreland Co., Pennsylvania. Samuel went to Kentucky by 1785, when Benjamin is taxed at Tyrone, now in Fayette County (which was created late in 1783). Benjamin names sons, Peter and Samuel, and does not name sons Dirck (Richard) or Elias, as would be expected if he were in fact a descendant of Jan Brouwer. Benjamin's Revolutionary War file, and additional work on descendants can be found at his page on Ancestry.com. It would be very helpful if a direct male descendant of Benjamin can be found who would be interested in participating in the Brewer DNA Project. If the assumption that Benjamin is a brother of Samuel and Peter is correct, then results of a simple 12 or 37 marker Y-DNA test should match those of Peter Brewer's descendant (#28193). [When the BGD is next updated, Benjamin will no longer be found as a possible son of Dirck Brouwer].

- Mark Brewer was probably born between 1760 and 1765, location not certain, but possibly in Maryland. He is not in anyway related to the BREWERs mentioned above. Mark Brewer is found in 1810 at Elizabethtown, Hardin Co., Kentucky. In 1820 he is at Little York, Hardin Co., and in 1830 the U.S. census records him simply in Hardin County, no township stated. I have been told that Mark Brewer and his family was Catholic, and they were part of a immigration of Catholics from Maryland to Kentucky. I don't doubt this. His wife was named Catharine (her maiden name is unknown to me). I know of one son, John Brewer, but there may well have been other children. John Brewer was born in 1788 and died in 1852. He has been confused, by some, with the above Peter Brewer's son who was also named John Brewer. Mark's John Brewer was married to Matilda Wise in 1818 in Hardin County, and they had nine children. John Brewer left a will in 1852 which names all of his children. His sons John Q. Brewer and James Elias Brewer settled in Nelson Co., Kentucky. John Brewer named one son, Francis Xavier Brewer (a given name that would only be found in a Catholic family), and John and his wife are buried at St. Clare Cemetery, a Catholic Cemetery, in Colesburg, Kentucky.

The research on descendants found on the Ancestry.com pages is not complete, so I recommend re-checking it periodically. It will be continued until all male lines of Henry, Peter, Samuel and Benjamin are as complete as possible. A follow up post will cover four more BREWERs found in western Pennsylvania: John Brewer of Bullskin, Fayette Co.; Elias Brewer who went from Fayette Co. to Harrison Co., Ohio; David Brewer who went from Fayette Co. to Tyler Co., Virginia and then Jennings Co., Indiana; and Aaron Brewer, who is younger then the previous three and went from Fayette Co. to Van Buren Co., Iowa.